WHO CREATED PAJAPATI FOUNDATION?
Pajapati Foundation was founded by Jude Rozhon, Michelle Hemingway and Richard Klein. It was conceived as a heartfelt response to the needs of “non-traditional” Vajrayana nuns and our shared belief in the importance of establishing a strong Tibetan Buddhist monastic tradition here at home and the role women will play in achieving that goal. We currently comprise the managing board of the foundation, and are:

Michelle Hemingway MD received her BS in Biochemistry and BA in Psychology from the University of North Texas. She graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1986 and completed her internship in Family Medicine at the University of Massachusetts. Michelle’s lifelong interest in the art and mystery of health and healing have focused on the interconnection between body, mind and spirit. This has inspired her to develop expertise across a wide spectrum of healing modalities, traditional and alternative.

Michelle is a life-long student of Buddhism and Eastern spirituality and her relationship to medicine is informed by and deeply rooted in the spiritual domain.

Jude Rozhon has been practicing Buddhist meditation from the three main Buddhist traditions since the late ‘60s, teaching since the early ‘90s, and has been an instructor for the Insight Meditation Correspondence Course (authored by Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg) since 1997. Currently she teaches Insight and Lovingkindness techniques from the Burmese tradition, and Compassion practices from the Mahayana traditions. Jude has been practicing in the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition under the guidance of Tsoknyi Rinpoche since 1993.

Jude has degrees in Philosophy and East/West Psychology, and directed a Meditation Studies Program in New Hampshire for several years in the mid-90s. Over five decades of practice, she has spent many months in intensive silent retreat in both the Theravada and Dzogchen traditions. Jude has been informally connected with nuns, both Catholic and Buddhist, since age 7. She received temporary ordination as a Tibetan nun from Pema Chodron at the 2002 winter monastic retreat at Gampo Abbey. She has also been fundraising for the Tsoknyi Lineage nuns of Tibetan and Nepal through her students and friends for over a decade.

Since 2001 Jude has been living in the South Puget Sound area of Washington State, where she teaches meditation in Tacoma, Olympia, and Seattle, focusing particularly on women’s Lovingkindness Meditation groups. Crestone Colorado is her spiritual home.

Richard Klein is an experienced musician, carpenter, architectural draftsman, audio editor, copywriter, and producer of online educational programs. A serious spiritual seeker for many years, he initially practiced within the Theravada Buddhist tradition before venturing forth to have pivotal encounters with other Eastern spiritual paths and teachers, as well as engaging in Western healing modalities and developmental systems of thought. In 2010 Richard became a student of Vajrayana Buddhism and has been studying and practicing Dzogchen under the guidance of Tsoknyi Rinpoche.

A lifelong yogi, Richard is profoundly inspired by the depth and power of the Tibetan Buddhist monastic tradition and founded Pajapati to aid in its development and growth here in the West.

Richard lives in Durango, Colorado with his wife Michelle Hemingway and two unruly Tibetan Terriers.

For more information about Pajapati Foundation, visit our About Pajapati page.

Tashi Delek!

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PAJAPATI FOUNDATION IS DEDICATED TO THE BENEFIT OF ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE, WITHOUT ONE EXCEPTION.

We are a charitable organization as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.Our tax identification number (EIN) is 47-5308662. We appreciate your support. Tashi Delek!With many thanks: Logo by Ushi Patel + Photography by Julie Hall + Website by webrankone.com